# Whoa Whoa...Wolverine is a girl? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597 "2012-06-28T16:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/61 "2012-07-02T12:59:58Z")
What’s funny is his “hairstyle” was originally just hat-hair. The rest of his hair under his cowl got slicked back with sweat but the parts that were under the base of the “ears” of his cowl didn’t and stood up. It was a _joke_ by Cockrum. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/62 "2012-07-02T13:31:42Z")
Little Nemo: > [@](#): > > True. We’re talking about the only genre of fiction where the question “how long you figure he’s going to be dead?” is a legitimate topic of debate. This brings to mind a little cartoon in which someone rings the doorbell of the X-Mansion and says, “I’m looking for Jean Grey.” Cyclops answers and says, “She’s dead at the moment, try back next week.” ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/63 "2012-07-02T14:17:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > True. We’re talking about the only genre of fiction where the question “how long you figure he’s going to be dead?” is a legitimate topic of debate. Well, not the _only_ genre. SF does have _Stargate: SG-1_, after all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/64 "2012-07-02T16:17:18Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Fanwank: Wolverine’s genome actually codes for claws/spurs in multiple locations, maybe as many as 5 on each extremity, corresponding to fingers and toes, split between top and bottom of wrist, and front and back of foot. Which claws actually manifest is a function of prenatal conditions. Some of the required conditions may be mutually exclusive. Kind of like the [cloned cat](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3076908/ns/health-cloning/t/year-later-cloned-cat-no-copycat/)that had a [coat color that didn’t match her donor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CC_(cat)). Same genotype, different phenotype. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/65 "2012-07-02T17:47:08Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > You’re at the intersection of Comics and Internet. Gender swaps are much more common in these parts than changes to iconic weapons. Excuse me? While there may be differently-gendered versions of many major characters due to alternate universes and/or and/or _very_ temporary manipulations and/or clones and/or blood relationships, I can’t recall any that actually had their own gender changed permanently(or even semi-permanently). ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/66 "2012-07-02T17:53:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Excuse me? While there may be differently-gendered versions of many major characters due to alternate universes and/or and/or _very_ temporary manipulations and/or clones and/or blood relationships, I can’t recall any that actually had their own gender changed permanently(or even semi-permanently). You are missing the point about THE INTERNET. Google image search “sexy (insert male superhero here)” and you’ll get dozens if not hundreds of deviantart/etc images of that character/costume done up in a sexy female form. It’s a thing. Also.. you’ll get pictures of the “sexy” halloween costumes of said heroes. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/67 "2012-07-02T17:54:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Excuse me? While there may be differently-gendered versions of many major characters due to alternate universes and/or and/or _very_ temporary manipulations and/or clones and/or blood relationships, I can’t recall any that actually had their own gender changed permanently(or even semi-permanently). [Loki](http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/15776/520436-loki.jpg) and [Sasquatch](http://www.tgfa.org/comics/sasquatch/images/AF_55_04.jpg) immediately spring to mind, but I’m sure there are others ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/68 "2012-07-02T18:01:46Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Google image search “sexy (insert male superhero here)” ‘Rule 63’ may be better…filter out the results where they’re made sexier, but left male, people talking about how sexy the character is, or are just reams of pictures of Hugh Jackman (Sexy Wolverine), Robert Downy Jr (Sexy Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Sexy Thor), and Chris Pine (Sexy Captain America). Also, I note, the original post made no mention of it being permanent, so things like Gal Gardner count, too. And, yeah, Rule 63 changes the characters not at all, aside from making them into hot chicks. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/69 "2012-07-02T20:14:40Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > [Loki](http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/1/15776/520436-loki.jpg) and [Sasquatch](http://www.tgfa.org/comics/sasquatch/images/AF_55_04.jpg) immediately spring to mind, but I’m sure there are others Back before Liefeld left, Image had a whole line-wide crossover event where all the heroes got “chickified”. Extreme Babewatch. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/70 "2012-07-02T20:28:50Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Back before Liefeld left, Image had a whole line-wide crossover event where all the heroes got “chickified”. Extreme Babewatch. All those poor, broken spines… ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/71 "2012-07-14T07:54:27Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > I don’t think that’s right. I think X-23 was completely separate from the Weapon Plus program. > > IIRC–She was the 23rd embryo built up from Wolverine’s DNA. You are indeed correct, my bad. Seems strange, since Morrison was doing his Weapon Plus stuff around the same time, but maybe it was too close to get on the same page. > [@](#): > > …this is comics? He’ll be back. Ironically, since my post, he showed up apparently alive in Uncanny X-Force. Not even time for the body to get cold. > [@cmkeller](#): > > This brings to mind a little cartoon in which someone rings the doorbell of the X-Mansion and says, “I’m looking for Jean Grey.” Cyclops answers and says, “She’s dead at the moment, try back next week.” Jean Grey’s actually been dead for a pretty long time… not as long as Jason Todd (17 years) or Bucky (37 years; though he was retconned to have never died), but 8 years is still nothing to sniff at. Of course, everyone knows she’ll be back, possibly at the end of the currently-ongoing Avengers vs. X-Men storyline. Has anyone ever stayed dead besides Uncle Ben? Even Gwen Stacy had clones… ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/72 "2012-07-14T08:46:33Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > Has anyone ever stayed dead besides Uncle Ben? Even Gwen Stacy had clones… I could tell you, but the editors would take it as a dare. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/73 "2012-07-14T15:03:02Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > Has anyone ever stayed dead besides Uncle Ben? Even Gwen Stacy had clones… I don’t think Batman’s parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, have ever been revived in mainstream continuity. Although there is a villain named Doctor Hurt who has claimed to Thomas Wayne at some points. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/74 "2012-07-14T19:02:07Z")
As much as it would amuse me to see the next Bat-editor revive the Waynes on the theory that they’re the only ones left still dead, there are a few others: I’m pretty sure Capt. George Stacy and Ned Leeds have stayed dead in _Spider-Man._ Adrian Chase stayed dead. The more issues a series runs, the closer it gets to bringing back everybody. So _Superman_ has seen Lori Lemaris turn up alive, let Kal meet his bio-parents through time displacement (though technically they’re still dead I guess), retconned out his adoptive parents’ death, and killed and brought back Lex Luthor, at least once apiece. But I don’t really expect Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend Alex to come back, or Amanda Waller’s niece Flo, outside of a horror arc and then only “back wrong” and temporarily. Granted Flo was a supporting character in _Suicide Squad_, a book with a really high body count, and so far I think only Rick Flag has come back of the Squad.[sup]1[/sup] Though I wouldn’t be surprised at seeing Lashina back (possibly _sans_ memories of the Squad), and possibly the Javelin who died (not a regular member, and he died in a confusing crossover after all). ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/75 "2012-07-14T19:09:13Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Or any of [these ones](http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/2/24/Exiles_Vol_1_86.jpg). Ok, what’s up with the little girl on the cover? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/76 "2012-07-14T19:42:15Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Ok, what’s up with the little girl on the cover? Robotic suicide bomber, built to kill Wolverine. Physically tethered to the robot Wolverine built as bait for Wolverine. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/77 "2012-07-14T20:25:24Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Robotic suicide bomber, built to kill Wolverine. Physically tethered to the robot Wolverine built as bait for Wolverine. The original Wolverine series sure had a lot of really, really weird villains. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/78 "2012-07-14T20:36:57Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Ok, what’s up with the little girl on the cover? > [@Grumman](#): > > Robotic suicide bomber, built to kill Wolverine. Physically tethered to the robot Wolverine built as bait for Wolverine. [Elsie Dee and Albert](http://marvel.com/universe/Albert_%26_Elsie-Dee), wow, hadn’t thought about those two in ages. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/79 "2012-07-14T21:35:05Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Granted Flo was a supporting character in _Suicide Squad_, a book with a really high body count, and so far I think only Rick Flag has come back of the Squad.[sup]1[/sup] Though I wouldn’t be surprised at seeing Lashina back (possibly _sans_ memories of the Squad) Lashina was brought back, during Seven Soldiers. Doctor Light, who was killed in the same mission, was brought back (…twice), only to be killed again (for good, this time) in Final Crisis. Then there’s Captain Boomerang, but he wasn’t killed on a squad mission. (It was during an attempt on the life of Jack Drake, the father of the then-current Robin. They both died. Boomer came back. Jack didn’t.) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597/80 "2012-07-14T23:28:03Z")
Oh, of course! I completely forgot about, “The Death and Life and Death and Life and Death and Life of Doctor Light,” which was a big departure for that series. I wasn’t counting Boomerbutt, since he didn’t die in a Squad story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-whoa-wolverine-is-a-girl/626597.md?page=5)